The 2014 season promises to be an exciting one for women’s cycling. There are new races to anticipate, including a women’s race on the Champs Elysées at the Tour de France. Rosters have reshuffled, and more than ever, the talent is spread across multiple teams. Here are ten riders you can expect to see on the podium, in the breakaway, and crossing the line first this year.Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/giant)
Let’s begin with the queen. Vos rides well on every type of terrain and she has the tactical acuity to match. The 26-year-old Dutch rider is the current world and Olympic road race champion. She’s also a seven-time world champion in cyclocross and has won world and Olympic titles on the track. Little wonder she is increasingly compared with Eddy Merckx, considered the best cyclist in history. Engaging and down-to-earth, Vos is the rider her competitors want to hate, but can’t. She’s simply too nice. Unlike many members of the women’s peloton, Vos started racing early, at age six (her first bike was green).

Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS)
At the World Championship road race last year, Johansson stood on the podium, second to Marianne Vos. It is a familiar position for Johansson. One of the sport’s most consistent one-day riders, Johansson frequently finds her path to the top step of the podium blocked by the ever-present Vos. She’s won the Swedish national championship on multiple occasions and was number one in the UCI rankings in 2013. In her podium appearances and interviews, Johansson is smiling and gracious, but there’s a tightly leashed frustration behind her composure. The competitive Swede wants to win races, not finish second.

Jade Wilcoxson (Optum)
The current US road champion, 35-year-old Wilcoxson has taken a circuitous route to elite-level cycling. She did not even own a race bike until her late 20s. Wilcoxson left a successful career in physical therapy to pursue racing full-time. In addition to road racing, she’s an enthusiastic cyclocross racer and finished second at the 2013 national championship. This past fall, she focused her energy on the track and won a national title in the individual pursuit. Wilcoxson is a versatile rider with a massive engine. This year, she returns with Optum and will ride a US-focused schedule.
Related: Read Wilcoxson’s Rider Diaries

Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda)
Bronzini is arguably the fastest flat-out sprinter in the world. She’s a two-time world road race champion and has won a world title on the track in the points race, which rewards both speed and tactical smarts. Bronzini is a master of playing the sprinters’ game. She never expends more energy than necessary, and seems to appear out of nowhere in the final kilometer. She is also a stage-winning machine. In 2013, she won all six stages of the Route de France Féminine. The outspoken Bronzini was a key voice during the protest against unsafe conditions at the Giro della Toscana last year.
Related: Riders Abandon Giro della Toscana Over Safety Concerns

Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano)
While Giorgia Bronzini is fast, sometimes Kirsten Wild is faster. Like Bronzini, Wild divides her time between road and track, and she has won multiple Dutch titles on the track. The 31-year-old Wild started off her 2014 season by winning the overall at the Ladies Tour of Qatar for the fourth time. In 2013, she scooped up a stack of stage victories, including one at the Giro Rosa. Tactically astute and at home on the tricky roads of northern Europe, Wild won Gent-Wevelgem in 2012 and is a good pick to repeat this year. Top ten finishes at the Ronde van Drenthe and Ronde van Vlaanderen World Cup races suggest the depth of Wild’s strength and experience.